Review: Xiu Xiu @ Strange Brew

By Joe Coburn, Second Year Philosophy

Jamie Stewart formed Xiu Xiu in 2002, and few other bands with two decades under their belt continue to invent and delight as they do. They veer between soul-wrenching vulnerability and experimental oblivion with such polished artistic exactness you just can’t help but get sucked
into their world.

It was a brisk Wednesday evening. City centre swayed to a cheery late autumn rhythm; but one venue was set to beat to a very different drum.

A cathedral for the weird and wonderful, Strange Brew was the perfect place to house Xiu Xiu (pronounced ‘shoe-shoe’), an experimental band hailing from the golden state of California, caught somewhere between noise rock and art pop, underpinned by unorthodox electronica.

They’re a consistently amorphous act, today made up of drummer David Kendrick, and multi-instrumentalists Angela Seo and Jamie Stewart.

Their seminal, synthy debut release Knife Play, now regarded by many in the alternative scene as a classic work, had danced across my musical periphery before. But before this I kept Xiu Xiu at arm's length, equally confused and fascinated by them.

I found myself immersed in their discography for days after this gig. Xiu Xiu’s music is intensely confessional. Lyrically speaking, the themes they deal with are often seriously heavy. It's murky, powerful - at times downright chilling stuff.

People began to filter in, and it wasn’t long before the venue was percolating with pious anticipation - the band have a real cult following. Two decades of idiosyncratic releases, chock-full of choking, borderline orchestral guitar and spiky electronic polyrhythms have made the name Xiu Xiu gold dust in the alternative music world.

The opening acts delivered as much performance art as music. Frise Lumiere is the experimental brainchild of composer Ludovic Gerst. He wielded only a bass guitar and the drumstick he beat hungrily against it. It was raw.

Perched atop a stool in almost complete darkness, conjuring up this hypnotic monosyllabic rumble, Gerst evoked the image of a wizard both in stance and sound. It was reminiscent of guttural throat singing.

And Semay Wu was enchanting. She used a multiplicity of instrumental techniques - remixing herself breathing and snarling into a microphone, for example. Sensor technology, percussive clicking, the cello; all of them came together to form this wistful, at times unnerving, oceanic soundscape, painted against a pale blue background light. Both of these openers were truly unique. I’d urge anyone reading to look into their work.

The main set began with ‘The Silver Platter’, a simply terrifying cut from Angel Guts: Red Classroom, an album aberrant even by Xiu Xiu’s standards. ‘Something has to be true / Besides what is true’, Stewart cries with unabashed fervour, parallelling these indelibly eerie swells of guitar.

‘Suha’ was a real standout to me. One of my favourites from Knife Play, it's a markedly subdued song about suicidal ideation. In a drunken commentary on the album (well worth the listen by the way), Stewart reveals that it’s a song about his mother’s desire to die at one time in her life.

An allusive window into deeply personal tragedy underwritten by this nostalgic fluttering synthline, it’s the perfect emblem for Knife Play, and perhaps Xiu Xiu’s work more widely. It's a punch in the gut - and it’s as gorgeous as it is devastating.

The live rendition of ‘Wig Master’ was a wholesale reinvention of the song. A marriage of sinister percussive clangs and a manic reed pipe alternately haunt the bassline.

It was an eldritch march into utter insanity, ending with a cataclysm of sound perforated by Seo repeatedly screaming the final line, ‘Don’t make fun of my night out’, with genuinely petrifying ferocity.

Next came ‘Arp Omni’, the opening track from the band’s new mouthful of an album 13: Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips. I know - it sounds like art school bollocks, or maybe parody, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t well worth a listen.

In fact, the chorus insists on being quoted in full; ‘I have done nothing right / My entire adult life / But having dared to touch the fire with you / Breaks the chain of my being nothing too.’ It was harrowingly beautiful. Kendrick beat into a wall of synth-sound laid down by Seo, whilst Stewart cut through it all with his signature crooning vibrato. The band complimented each other superbly.

The closer, ‘Get Up’, was emphatic. It swelled from this bright, stark opening passage into an awesome anthemic climax. The tone and pacing of the track was really endearing; it's a love letter to friendship. ‘You’re the only reason I was ever born / You’re the only reason I was ever born’, chanted Seo, softly.

Their new album, 13 etc, is brilliant. Xiu Xiu are brilliantt, so what are you still doing here? Go give them a listen.

What's your favourite song from the new album?